Because the second wave of AI PCs has hit the market, two issues are instantly clear. One, the ecosystem gamers are neural processing models (NPUs) as the following large factor in compute, and never only a gimmick. Second, authentic tools producers (OEMs) are nonetheless aiming to create a model identification round AI PC.
The previous remark is comprehensible given the large rise of the bogus intelligence (AI) house within the final 12 months. Based on data from Priority Analysis, the worldwide AI market grew from $638.23 billion in 2023-24 to $757.58 billion in 2024-25, increasing at a Compound Annual Development Charge (CAGR) of 18.72 %.
HP OmniBook Extremely Flip 14
The second remark, nonetheless, is extra intriguing. Since AI PC is a comparatively new house and OEMs lack experience in software program growth, most haven’t discovered sensible methods to supply instruments that allows customers to expertise this expertise. Nevertheless, if a model has to face out within the AI PC house, it should discover methods to supply distinctive AI-focused options that aren’t current of their opponents’ units.
HP, which just lately launched its OmniBook, EliteBook, and ProBook collection, is specializing in this precise drawback, and has a novel strategy to remedy it. The corporate’s AI PCs are geared up with three completely different instruments — the HP AI Companion, the myHP app, and the Poly Studio net digicam. And for the final couple of weeks, I’ve been testing out these options to grasp whether or not they add worth to the lives of a mean person or not.
The HP AI Companion
The California-based laptop model has added an AI-powered on-device chatbot in all of its AI PCs, dubbed HP AI Companion. It serves as a private assistant, a doc evaluation instrument, and a conversational strategy to management a few of the system settings.
HP says the AI Companion is powered by a model of GPT-4 which operates solely regionally, that means any knowledge shared with the chatbot by no means leaves the system. It’s powered by the on-device NPU, and is built-in with each the system in addition to all of the recordsdata saved on it.
Uncover in HP AI Companion
There are three interfaces to the AI Companion — Uncover, Analyse, and Carry out. Uncover is for individuals who are new to AI chatbots and need to discover the expertise. Right here, customers can ask the AI any normal queries, in addition to assign any generative duties akin to writing a weblog or an essay. One factor to notice right here is that for the reason that chatbot isn’t linked to the Web, it won’t be capable of reply questions on real-time occasions. The Uncover panel can also be the place the place HP supplies a newsfeed of summarised subjects customers can use for inspiration.
Maybe probably the most attention-grabbing function of the HP AI Companion is the Analyse perform. Customers can add any doc or file, and the instrument can rapidly summarise the content material. It may additionally entry recordsdata saved within the person’s non-public Azure drive. In my transient utilization, I used to be capable of get it to summarise analysis papers and enormous paperwork precisely. It additionally provides citations so customers will be redirected to the supply within the doc and get in-depth information.
Analyse in HP AI Companion
What makes Analyse stand out is that it provides the textual content summarisation functionality straight on-device and totally free. Customers may examine paperwork, spotlight key factors, and even filter particular knowledge. Those that care about each frugality and knowledge privateness, the mix is difficult to seek out until you personal one of many costly AI-enabled smartphones, such because the Samsung Galaxy S25 collection.
Aside from this, the HP AI Companion additionally comes with the Carry out interface, which is a conversational interface to entry system settings. For example, in case you’re already engaged on AI Companion, and immediately combat the show brightness to be insufficient, you’ll be able to go to the Carry out web page and inform it to “improve brightness by 70 %,” and it’ll. Another settings customers can management utilizing the interface embody Equipment, Audio, Digital camera, Show, and Gestures.
Carry out in HP AI Companion
However that is not all. The interface additionally lets customers keep system drivers, BIOS, and firmware – all of which will be up to date proper from one display screen. Carry out may present troubleshooting info from HP assist to assist customers configure settings. HP claims that the AI additionally learns from person behaviour and might modify the optimum configuration primarily based on what the person is doing.
Total, the chatbot is a complete providing from HP that will likely be helpful for each these new to the AI expertise and people skilled with it.
myHP
In 2020, the PC model first launched myHP as a central hub for units. The corporate just lately refreshed the app and added AI capabilities to it. It’s designed as a customisation platform that lets customers tweak completely different options of the system to their choice. The house web page of myHP exhibits numerous instruments and settings that may be accessed, akin to Audio, Video, Show, Touchpad, Presence Sensing, Gestures, and extra.
myHP dwelling web page
Every of those settings permits you to rapidly entry the controls to tweak numerous customisation settings. For example, within the System Management tab, customers can allow the Efficiency mode of the laptop computer and choose from a variety of choices.
Within the presence sensing tab, they’ll modify numerous choices for when the system turns the display screen off. For example, customers can specify how far the person is from the system and for a way lengthy earlier than the show turns off. Related choices can be found to wake the system or dim the brightness. These choices are geared toward letting customers choose the precise configuration that they need.
myHP System Controls
The AI integration comes into play because the person spends extra time with the system and adjusts completely different settings for various utilization. The AI information the patterns after which robotically adjusts the settings primarily based on person behaviour.
myHP Presence Sensing
Whereas the concept behind the myHP app is nice, I really feel that duplication of settings isn’t essentially a requirement for many customers. Nevertheless, for individuals who need a useful one-stop store for all their customisation controls, this might be a game-changer.
Poly Digital camera Professional
Lastly, HP has additionally made some AI-based modifications to its Poly Digital camera Professional app. It’s the firm’s in-house net digicam app, which additionally connects to completely different video conferencing platforms akin to Microsoft Groups and Google Meet.
In 2022, HP acquired Poly for $3.3 billion. Within the following years, the corporate launched the Poly Digital camera Professional, an internet digicam app that provides a number of customisation options. Take the background management, for instance. It provides a number of modes, akin to portrait, highlight, and inexperienced display screen, which robotically observe the topic so as to add the specified impact to the display screen.
HP’s Poly Digital camera Professional options
The framing instrument additionally permits customers to regulate the digicam to numerous video streaming platforms, be it vertical or horizontal, all whereas making certain that the topic is centred. There are additionally a number of built-in templates that customers can add to keep away from the generic on-camera/off-camera look. Templates will also be created to permit customers to design the proper video search for themselves.
In my transient expertise with the Poly Digital camera Professional, I discovered the customisation choices aplenty and helpful. Because the customisations additionally seem on third-party video conferencing apps as nicely, it’s a handy means to make sure your look stays fixed in all conferences.
If you’re new to the concept of AI-powered private computer systems, then HP’s AI PCs are an excellent place to begin to grasp what this expertise can do for you. Since all of those AI-powered instruments run regionally on the system, you shouldn’t have to fret about knowledge privateness points, and might slowly accustom your self with the AI assistant that may reply your primary queries, analyse and summarise your paperwork, assist you to customise your system to new heights, and let you have a look at your sharpest in each assembly.
And in case you’re an skilled AI person, you’ll be able to all the time discover GitHub and Hugging Face to your favorite open-source AI mannequin and run them regionally in your system with the built-in NPU.
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